Creative Writing in the EFL Classroom/Teaching Ideas/Mini Saga Exercise: From Prose to Fiction

Shorten each of the two news snippets to exactly 50 words. Take out any words that are not absolutely necessary. Make it creative and interesting.

Boy gets 21 years in US jail

He is the youngest person to be accused of robbing a bank. A judge said Denote Moore, 13, had the “extremely aggressive” manner by pointing a handgun at bank officials last month. Moore was arrested within 30 minutes after hiding in a garage only a few blocks away from the bank. The teen said he ran away from home last week and was stealing to get money for food. (69 words) ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

100 Cats found living in one house

Nearly 100 cats were found living in a home in New Jersey. There was 2 feet of feces in one room. Police have to wear masks to help them breathe through the stench of urine. The house owner was charged with improperly sheltering an animal. Police don't want to give any jail time because they realize this was simply a good deed that got out of hand. The police now have trouble finding people to adopt the cats. (78 words) ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________